Deepti Menon

Artist Statement “I went to art school and have a BFA in Film/Animation/Video. As an independent animator, I am constantly exploring various ways of creating moving images and experimenting with strange materials and processes.

Growing up as an only child, I spent a lot of time engaging in any creative activities I could find. I particularly enjoyed molding figurines out of raw dough while my mother cooked. Although my high school had passionate art teachers, the school’s funding didn’t provide for a thorough arts education.

At art school, I was very overwhelmed by how talented all my peers were. I started to learn where my strengths were and focused greatly on improving my weaknesses. What I loved most about being in such a creative environment, however, was the immense amount of support I received and how much I constantly learned about art and life from my peers and advisers. I’m thrilled to be a part of Art Prof and this growing community of supportive, creative, and diverse artists!”

Video Transcript “Hi I’m Deepti, and I’m a filmmaker and animator. “When I was in high school my parents were able to send me to a private art tutor outside of my high school, and I would spend up to four hours a day with the tutor, with other people who are really invested in art and I this is what I realized that I was really able to spend a ton of time creating and that I loved every minute of it.

Growing up I spent a lot of time alone because I’m an only child, and so a lot of this time was spent drawing and creating art, or watching movies.

I remember watching ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’, and having such an ‘aha!’ amazing moment because I learned what animation was through that film, and what it was capable of and just the ability to create your own magical world with all these characters that come straight from your head and I was so excited by it.

When I was around four or five I wanted to draw on basically every surface in my parents house and I wasn’t allowed to, so I had a small coffee table in our living room that I would crawl underneath and draw on the underside of, and sometimes my mom would have been join me and I just remember it being filled with tons of little cartoons, or drawings, or even like comics and it was like my favorite place to spend time.

When Professor Lieu asked me to be a TA on Art Prof, I jumped at the opportunity because I was just so excited about being able to interact with people from all over the world, and get to see work coming from all the different corners of the globe which is just so thrilling.”